Zambia’s national poverty rate remains stubbornly high. Levels of inequality between rural and urban areas continue to rise, affecting girls and women disproportionately. With the poverty rate in rural Zambia at 78%, women and adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable due to lower human capital accumulation (Zambia Final Report, 2020). Furthermore, in Chanyanya, women face gender disparities in access to land as well as a lack of access to other productive resources and services compared to men. Additionally, women suffer from illness and disease in Chanyanya communities because they lack access to vital health information and resources to afford medical support.

Along with the above factors, most women in Chanyanya do not have a bank account or a reliable savings group. Women are reported using someone else’s account than men, which may reveal key barriers women face in opening an account of their own from the banks and leads to further financial dependence and gender disparity.